TL-46-226 Update 2
UT Hillel Bus 226 had a busy few days, full of activities and tours, and we ended the weekend after a restful Shabbat.
On Day 3, we woke up to tour the mystical city of Tzfat, which had beautiful art galleries and shops to look through. We had an upgraded lunch at Mitbalim in Rosh Pina, and then we headed to an Air Force simulator activity. The group competed in pairs to fly the flight simulator over the country of Israel to find certain targets and see the country from an aerial perspective, fully dressed in Air Force uniforms. Afterwards, we drove to Netanya for dinner and to stay overnight.
Day 4 took us to Tel Aviv where we got to see the city “our way” with lots of free time to wander. We met up to go to the Tel Aviv beach for surfing lessons! After, we drove to Jerusalem to visit Har Herzl, the cemetery for fallen IDF soldiers, which was an emotional experience for many. We then left for dinner at the hotel and an exciting night out at Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem’s most lively nightlife area.
The next day, we started with a tour of the Old City in Jerusalem. We visited the Jewish Quarter, the Davidson Archaeological Center, and saw the Western Wall (Kotel). Afterwards, we went back to Machane Yehuda market for a culinary tour/lunch time. The group returned to the hotel to rest and prepare for Shabbat. We had a nice Kabbalat Shabbat service and reflection of the week before, a nice dinner, and a fun/interesting program planned by the Israeli soldiers (mifgash) in our group.
Day 6 was a restful Shabbat day. We had breakfast at the hotel, an optional tour of the Israel Museum, lunch, and much appreciated pool time at our beautiful hotel. Two of our guys decided to have an official Bar Mitzvah ceremony which we all attended and celebrated with throwing candy and dancing/chair-lifting. After some break time, we gathered together to prepare for Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, which we would be visiting the next day. We had dinner, a Havdalah service to close out Shabbat and welcome the new week, and ended the night with an interesting geopolitical talk from a StandWithUs senior educator about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
